DUBAI // A police officer who rented a villa for an alcohol-fueled party was fined this morning – along with 21 party guests – after being convicted of coercion to commit sin and alcohol-related offences.
Convicted were 15 Emirati men, a Bidoon, an Omani, two Emirati women and three Moroccan women. They were charged in May; Bur Dubai police broke up the villa party on July 3, 2010.
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Judge Ahmed Abdel Mohsin of the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours fined all the defendants Dh1,000 to Dh5,000. FA, the Emirati police officer, and his accomplice MA were fined Dh5,000 each for possession and consumption of liquor.
On July 3, 2010, officers at the Bur Dubai police station were alerted to a party at a villa and investigated.
"We received a call from a man in the same area complaining about the house. We went to the villa and arrested them all." a police officer told prosecutors. "There were five girls in the villa, and all were acting illicitly with many men."
Prosecutors said the partygoers were found in "a position that defies public decency".
A large amount of alcohol was found and confiscated.
The maximum penalty for coercion and enticement to commit sin is one year in prison, according to the UAE criminal code, but a judge may issue a fine instead.
amustafa@thenational.ae
